Bryngarw Country Park

Bryngarw Country Park is made up of 48 hectares (120 acres) and is situated on the west bank of the Afon Garw, at the mouth of the Garw Valley in the Bridgend County Borough, Wales. The western boundary is marked by the Brynmenyn-Bettws road and the River Graw is its eastern boundary. 18 hectares of open meadowlands, subjects of grazing tenancy agreements and hence not open to the public, surrounds the Country Park. The Country Park and Bryngarw House occupies the remaining 30 hectares of the estate. Bryngarw House and its associated formal gardens (including the lawn, shrubbery, lake and oriental gardens) account for 1.5 hectares of the park. The rest of the park is predominantly wooded (broadleaf, coniferous and mixed woodland) with areas of meadow, wetland and freshwater, formal garden and areas for amenity use. Bryngarw Park is a Grade II listed park and garden on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The house and gardens lie within the Strategic Coalfield Plateau, Landscape Conservation Area, described in local legislation (Ogre Borough Local Plan and emerging Urban Development Plan). This designation refers to the wooded, gently sloping agricultural and parkland landscape that characterizes the park. In 2010, the park was designated as a Key Strategic Site under the Valleys Partnership Initiative Action Program and is subsequently receiving funding from the Wales Assembly Government (WAG) Environmental Improvement Grant and Bridgend County Borough Council's Strategic Regeneration Fund. The park has also been awarded grant money from ‘One Historic Garden’ Centre of Excellence Scheme and has been designated one of eight ‘Visit Wales Sustainable Tourism, Historic Gardens Centre of Excellence’ sites. This money from both funds will be used in autumn of 2011 to update and expand the existing visitor canter, refurbish the café and toilets, improve the existing car park and to significantly enhance the oriental…